Market segments for prepaid accounts are many and diverse, some of which are now known and some of which are yet to be determined. The present invention is applicable to all such prepaid account market segments. The market size can be indicator of importance for an issuer wishing to penetrate a prepaid account program for that market. Stated otherwise, an issuer may determine that the amount of money that is likely to be spent for goods and services in a particular segment of a market warrants an effort by the issuer to issue prepaid accounts that are intended to be used to conduct transactions for the goods and services in that specific market segment. For instance, an issuer may wish to issue: (i) general purpose prepaid accounts for use in the general purpose market which is estimated to be $0.66 US trillion in 2009; (ii) payroll prepaid accounts for the payroll market which is estimated to be $0.30 US trillion in 2009; (iii) gift prepaid account for the gift market which is estimated to be $0.21 US trillion in 2009; (iv) government prepaid accounts for the governments benefits market which is estimated to be $0.18 US trillion in 2009; (v) employee benefits prepaid accounts for the employee benefits market which is estimated to be $0.17 US trillion in 2009; and (vi) incentive prepaid accounts for the incentives market which is estimated to be $0.09 US trillion in 2009.
A prepaid gift card has as its target audience those consumers that are in a gift-giving situation whose benefits are (i) Flexibility: Recipient can buy what they want, when they want; (ii) Protection: Safer than cash and can be replaced if lost or stolen; and (iii) Choice: Transaction Handler Gift cards can be used anywhere that Transaction Handler Debit is accepted.
There is a prepaid youth or teen prepaid account transaction market where the target audience is parents with teenage children, and the benefits are (i) a powerful financial education tool to help teens learn budgeting; (ii) Parental controls with online tracking of purchases and spending limits; (iii) Independence to make responsible purchases without having to borrow a credit card or carry lots of cash; and (iv) Peace of mind for parents in case of emergencies, while their teen is traveling, or for everyday errands.
There is a prepaid travel prepaid account transaction market where the target audience is for U.S. travelers who travel both domestically and abroad, and the benefits include (i) A convenient replacement for Travelers Cheques; (ii) Safer than carrying cash; (iii) Obtain local currency at millions of Automatic Tell Machines (ATMs) around the world; (iv) Multiple cards allow travelers to share funds with their traveling companions; and (v) Emergency card and cash replacement anywhere in the world, usually within one business day.
There is a prepaid flexible spending account (FSA) transaction market. Here, the target audience for a FSA card are employees with FSA accounts, and the benefits include (i) Allows employees to access their pre-tax funds in either: (a) A Healthcare FSA to pay for eligible (healthcare goods and services, such as doctor/dentist visits, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, eye-glasses) and (b) other out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance; and (ii) A Dependent Care FSA to pay for eligible childcare or adult dependent care expenses.
There is a prepaid Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) Card transaction market. Here, the target audience for a HRA card are employees with access to HRA funds, and the benefits include (i) Allows consumers to access funds in their employer-funded HRA to pay for eligible healthcare expenses (the eligibility or which is determined by the employer) for themselves, their spouse and dependents; and (ii) Allows employers to have more say in how the funds can be used; (iii) there is no limit to the amount that employers can contribute to their employees' HRAs and contributions are not treated as taxable income.
There is a prepaid Health Savings Account (HAS) Card transaction market. Here, the target audience for a HSA card are consumers with HAS accounts, and the benefits include (i) Allows consumers to access pre-tax funds in their Health Savings Accounts to pay for eligible healthcare goods and services for themselves, their spouse and dependents; and (ii) Consumers must be covered by a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to qualify for an HSA and contributions to HSAs are subject to IRS maximums.
There is a prepaid Wellness Card transaction market. Here, the target audience for a Wellness Card are Consumers with Wellness benefits through their employer or health plan, and the benefits include (i) Allows rewarding of consumer with financial incentives for completing a specific task and/or participating in a program related to health and wellness; (ii) Allows for restrictive use to limit acceptance to Health and Medical merchants only.
There is a prepaid Insurance Card transaction market. Here, the target audience for a prepaid Insurance Card are insurance policy holders who have claims against an insurance company, and the benefits include (i) Allows convenient and cost-effective way for insurance carriers to pay claims to policy holders; (ii) Reduces costs associated with check writing, check replacement and fraud; and (iii) Benefits policy holders by receiving quick access to emergency funds and ongoing policy disbursements.
There is a prepaid Incentive Card transaction market for which there are five incentive types: employee incentive, trade/channel incentive, consumer rebate, consumer promotion, and loyalty. Here, the target audience is Employees/consumers receiving an incentive from corporations. Benefits: Allows corporations to provide incentive funds to consumers/employees through:
1. A rebate card that offers funds back on the purchase of goods or services
2 A consumer promotions card that offers funds as an incentive for completing a specific event
3. An employee incentive card for recognition rewards and sales bonuses
4. A channel incentives card paid to a dealer or distributor employees.
5. A loyalty rewards card to encourage loyal buying behavior.
Prepaid Government Card: Consumers receiving disbursements from a government agency; Benefits:
1. Allows consumers to access funds received from federal and state agencies
2. Allows government agencies to help eliminate check-related costs and fraud issues
3. Provides recipients greater security, convenience and purchasing power compared to cash and checks
Prepaid Payroll Card: Target Audience: Private sector employees; Benefits:
1. Allows employers to compensate employees that do not have a bank account or direct deposit
2. Allows employees that do have direct deposit but want the card to manage funds or as a means to provide funds to a spouse or dependent
Prepaid General Purpose Card: Target Audience: Underserved consumers who do not have access to a Government or Payroll card, but want to have card access; Benefits: Provides bankcard services to two types of underserved customers:
A. Unbanked consumer who does not have an account relationship with traditional financial institution, i.e. checking or savings account'
B. Underbanked consumer who does have account relationship with traditional but uses alternative providers such as check cashers;
Cross-Border Remittance Card: Target Audience: Consumers with family in another country; Benefits:
1. Allows convenient and secure method of transmitting money to family members in another country;
2. Reduces costs associated with other methods of sending funds remotely.
Prepaid Relocation Card: Target Audience: Business entities moving employees to a different city; Benefits:
1. Allows companies to reimburse employees efficiently and cost effectively
2. Reduces costs associated with writing checks or other methods of reimbursement.
Whether a participant in a particular prepaid account program is an issuer that issues prepaid accounts for the particular prepaid account program, such as a bank or credit union, or whether the participant is a big box merchant (e.g.; Macys, Walmart, Target, Kmart, Best Buy, etc.) that sponsors the particular prepaid account program while using an issuer to issue prepaid accounts for the particular prepaid account program, each such participant has a need to understand opportunities to better its participation in a segment of a market for prepaid account transactions. Moreover, it is desirable for such a participant to understand opportunities, by comparison to its peers, to issue prepaid accounts upon which transactions are to be conducted for goods and services within a particular segment of a particular market, where each prepaid account that is issued by the issuer will be activated by a consumer who will use the prepaid account to conduct such transactions with merchants who provide such goods and services in a segment of a market. The present disclosure addresses this need.